“When the Government announced the expansion of university places in 2012, only 20 per cent of polytechnic graduates made it to the local universities. Last year (2020), 30 per cent of polytechnic graduates – almost one in three – made it to one of the six local universities. This means most of the new university places created over the last seven years, including at the SUSS and SIT, went to polytechnic diploma holders. SIT and SUSS cater more to polytechnic graduates, not just in their applied learning approach, but also in their degree programmes. SIT was established in 2009 as an initiative by MOE to provide upgrading opportunities, primarily for polytechnic graduates. Hence many of its degree courses are aligned with the diploma courses found in the polytechnics…. SIT – like SUSS, SUTD as well as SMU – uses a holistic admission process for applicants, where it looks beyond grades, and at aptitude and talent… SIT’s provost Professor Chua Kee Chaing has this advice on how to ace aptitude-based admissions: We prioritise passion for the profession over pure grades.”
I think passion is not easily assessable by exams, so porfolio, CV and interviews are probably used more, just as in EAE.